Henry Rider: Clown Hunter

Chapter Twenty Two

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Chapter Twenty Two

"Ha! Now, Gira Hakanebra, prepare to feel the enamel corroding power of...the Shadow Brush! Ha ha ha HA ha!"

"No, Cavitarrus, it is you who shall fall. You've never understood...the...true power of...FRIENDSHIIIIP!"

It was Sunday afternoon. I was lying on the couch, half asleep, while a rerun of Shikai Warriors: Jaws of Heaven played on the TV. I had no idea what the story was, but that was fine. You don't need Shakespearean writing to justify pointy haired anime dudes fighting each other with giant toothbrushes.

Ethan sat nearby, silently doodling on the sketchbook Mom had bought for him along with the colored pencils he'd asked for. Mom and Dad were out running some boring grownup errand, leaving me with unregulated access to the TV and the can of whipped cream in our fridge. Now that my sugar high was fading and there was nothing good on, I was growing bored.

"Your plaque destroying powers are impressive," said Lord Cavitarrus, "but you will never defeat me!"

"That's what you think! I have yet to show you my ultimate attack! Razorfloss Web of the Divine Molars! HYAAAAAA!"

"N- No! Impossible! Such power!"

My eyelids began to droop...

"You have to choose what's more important, Henrietta."

I jerked back awake with a snort that made Ethan glance over at me. It had been a week since Ichabod had given me his ultimatum — betray my family or lose my job — and true to his word, he hadn't told anyone about how I'd left Ethan alone at Uncle Junk's shop. As for what I was going to do...I was trying my best not to think about it.

Forcing my mind away from the stressful subject, I found my mind drawn to the masked man instead. I hadn't seen him since Feverdream Field. That worried me. Not because I wanted him to show up again or anything, but because I had no idea what he was up to.

Ask them about the farms.

The show went to commercial, and I rolled onto my back to stare at the ceiling. What he'd said was haunting me almost as much as Ichabod's threat. Farms? What did a farm have to do with me? It might have helped if he'd told me who I was supposed to ask. The only people I interacted with, besides my family and friends, was the Council of Shnoob. Did they have any farms? That made a little sense, I guess. Klaons have to eat just like anyone else, so I could see how farming and livestock might be something they'd have a hand in. But why would a masked psychopath with poisonous laughter care about that?

Maybe he wants to use his laughter to poison our food supply, I mused. But no, that didn't make sense either. Even if the council was in charge of farming, it wasn't like we all got our food from the same place. Mom and Dad bought groceries from the store, and Mom had a little vegetable garden out back. I'd never thought about it, but that was probably true for most of klaon society.

Maybe "they" weren't the council at all. Maybe "they" were somebody else entirely. But that just put me right back where I started. Who did I talk to enough that the masked man would associate me with them? Maybe...

My stomach growled, chasing thoughts of mysteries and conspiracies away. Never save the world on an empty stomach, Dad always said.

"Hey, Ethan," I said. "Wanna go get Chinese?"

He shook his head and kept drawing.

"Oh." I thought for a second. "Hey, Ethan. Wanna go get a burger?"